Amen Clinics Research in Discover Magazine Top 100 Stories of Science 2015, at #19!
We are so excited that the pioneering research at Amen Clinics was just highlighted in Discover Magazine as number 19 of the top 100 stories in all of science for 2015! Our research was sandwiched between Tesla’s new entry into renewable energy at #18 and the discovery of a new dinosaur species at #20.
The research team at Amen Clinics, in collaboration with scientists from UCLA, Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of British Columbia, published the world’s largest functional brain imaging study on more than 21,000 patients that demonstrated we can distinguish between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) using brain SPECT imaging with high accuracy. Our study was published in the prestigious journal, PLOS ONE in July 2015.
With SPECT, We Can See the Difference
SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) is the type of advanced brain imaging we use at Amen Clinics. It allows us to do an overall evaluation of a person’s brain function and identify areas of the brain that are normal, as well as areas that are overactive or underactive. This capability is particularly important when trying to differentiate between PTSD and TBI, because these two conditions have several overlapping symptoms, including:

- Irritability and/or anger
- Insomnia or other sleep problems
- Symptoms of depression
- Heightened or excessive anxiety
- Social isolation
- Impulse control problems
- Difficulty with concentration





